(File photo: Josh Hild/Pexels)
The DA asks that the minister of justice and political development must accept responsibility for the delay in the disclosure of the national register for sex offenders.
Adv. Glynnis Breytenbach, the DA’s spokesperson on justice and constitutional development, made a written request about this to the chairman of the portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development.
“On February 25, 2025, Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi pledged to make the register available by the end of that month, without considering the privacy implications. A few days later, on March 1, she backtracked and pledged to transform the necessary legislation to enable the disclosure of the register in phases, starting with schools and related institutions. She reaffirmed her commitment to the disclosure of the register.
“It is now 14 months later and schools are still struggling to check teachers on the basis of the register. This has still not been made public, after the minister repeatedly said since last March that the legislation is underway for this. A year later we are still waiting for this legislation.”
The register is a database of approximately 32,000 people who have been found guilty of sex crimes and is maintained by the department. The register must function as a tool that prevents convicted sex offenders from working with children and other vulnerable groups.
Minister of Refugees. (Photo: The South African Judiciary/ Facebook)
Breytenbach says the DA-led department of basic education has made great progress in protecting children from sex offenders, but is dependent on the department of justice and constitutional development for the proper functioning of the selection process. She says the department’s failure to make the register available to check teachers means, for example, that sex offenders are let loose in classrooms while learners, parents and schools are blissfully unaware.
“Minister Kubayi’s empty promises put women and children at risk and are an obstacle in the fight against gender-based violence. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s repeated commitment to combating gender-based violence means little if ANC ministers sit and do nothing.”
Breytenbach describes it as shocking that the minister of a department tasked with ensuring the effective operation of the rule of law is the biggest obstacle in the protection of South Africans against sex criminals.
“A total of 421 days ago, the minister undertook that the national register would be made available to schools and other institutions that work with children by the end of February 2025. Institutions are still unable to have persons checked against the register efficiently. This delay is unacceptable in a country which, according to the president, is facing an epidemic of femicide and violence against women and children.”
Breytenbach says that missing a deadline set by the minister herself by more than 14 months means that either minister Kubayi does not care about the safety of women and children, or she is unable to do her job. “She must urgently be called before the committee to explain which one of the two is the case.”